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The North East of Florida offers visitors and residents a rare blend of state-of-the-art technology, old-world charm and natural beauty. The area is the last frontier of the Sunshine State, stretching from Cape Canaveral to the border of Georgia, taking in many sights and sounds along the way.
The primary draw for tourists is the Kennedy Space Centre, listed among Florida's top five attractions – located on Merrit Island. NASA shares its space Coast with the National Wildlife Refuge and the Canaveral National Seashore Park, meaning that NASA's neighbours include bald eagles, alligators and even the shy manatee.
Continuing north up Highway 1 we reach New Smyrna Beach, a popular spot with young families due to its self-styled "world's safest bathing beach", New Smyrna Beach has 13 miles of pristine white sand and excellent year round fishing, while the city itself is the second oldest in Florida, it boasts street after street of beautifully restored turn-of-the-century houses.
Daytona Beach, a little further up the coast again is framed for its stretch of hard-packed sand which became a Mecca for automotive racing enthusiasts between 1903 and 1935, in fact no fewer than 13 new records were set here. The tradition continues with world-famous annual events such as the Daytona 500. The beach is full of bustle, and has many activities on offer such as boat trips, canoeing and excellent surfing. There's also an abundance of nearby golf courses.
North of Daytona you will find Ormond Beach, Families looking for a great value coastal vacation home, and retirees all find life in Ormond Beach very pleasant. With its Intercoastal waterfront homes it provides a wonderful pace of life. Ormond Beach was recently rated one of the top 100 cities to relocate by National Strategy Group.
A little further north is Palm Coast, a new city that is the fastest growing metro area in the USA, with its canal communities giving access by boat to the intercoastal waterway and the ocean it is both a beautiful area and a sound investment as it is a city early in its conception.
By the time you get to St Augustine, the coast becomes a lot less developed and is characterised by nature reserves and quaint seaside towns. The city itself was founded in 1565 by Spanish settlers, making it America's oldest European settled city, it contains over 144 blocks of historic buildings and sites. Many of the structures, from forts to bandstands are made from coquina, Florida's oldest building materials. Formed over millions of years from shell fragments, quartz sand and calcium carbonate, coquina is a soft, porous, but very durable stone. More recently, St Augustine was the site of groundbreaking events in 1964 when Dr Martin Luther King fronted protests the eventually led to the city's desegregation; it was formerly renowned for being one of the most segregated in the country.
The economy North eastern Florida has a very strong economy that is supplemented by the impressive tourist figures achieved by the Space Coast and Daytona Beach. Jacksonville is known as America's hottest city. An industrial hub the geographical size of New York, Jacksonville plays host to numerous successful companies dealing in avionics and biomedicine.
An excellent infrastructure and low administrative costs are very appealing to other big businesses and it's estimated that almost 50 per cent of Florida's hi-tech companies are located here. In spite of the area's economic blessings and beautiful topography, house prices in the North East remain well below those found in the rest of Florida. Just outside St Augustine, family-sized pool homes can be purchased for as little as $150,000.
Daytona Beach and Ormond Beach remains affordable with ocean-front condos priced from around $200,000. Taking advantage of these good value beach-front condos makes sense at the moment as prices are so soft, which makes for an excellent long-term investment. During sporting events and the summer months, rental prospects at Daytona are excellent. Be prepared to move quickly if you're planning to buy here because the most aggressively priced properties are now getting pounced on by investors.
Another indication of a growing property market is the increase in construction of upmarket properties. Both Ponce Inlet and Ormond have seen their first $2 million property sales recently and this will attract the attention of the bigger spender.
Social Groups
The largest group of US buyers in north eastern Florida are retires from New York, New Jersey and east coast who moved to take advantage of the excellent infrastructure and facilities.
The North East is still a new area in terms of the international market though it is a hidden gem, providing better value property than the more traditional Gulf coastal homes. There is a small but growing British expat community and other northern Europeans are beginning to catch on too.
If it's The North East Coast that you are interested in please search for local homes in the "IHL Multiple Listing" Link at the top of the grey bar to the left of this page, or you can contact us on the on "Free Phone" 0808 1786941.
IHL has agents that have an in-depth knowledge of the area. It would be our privilege to represent you in your search and purchase of your Florida Property. With us you will never deal with a sellers agent so you know you will get the best deal possible. Remember that our fee's come from the Seller, not you.
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st Atlantic Coast
The largest group of US buyers in north eastern Florida are retires from New York, New Jersey and east coast who moved to take advantage of the excellent infrastructure and facilities.